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The state awarded the Michigan Department of Environmental Equality's (MDEQ) proposed $2 million contract to MAWSA, to pay for the extension of the municipal water system, to those areas known to be affected by this trichloroethylene (TCE) plume, but do not currently have access to the water system.

The plume was released over 50 years ago, from a metal parts manufacturing site in the village of Mancelona, to degrease the metal parts. It now extends six miles beyond Mancelona, to Schuss Mountain and Cedar River. In 2001, the MDEQ paid for the installation of a new municipal water system, to provide safe drinking water.

Construction of the water system extension is scheduled to start later this summer, with completion hopefully coming by winter.

Thursday, a public forum on the TCE plume is being held at Summit Conference Center, at Shanty Creek, at 7 p.m. The purpose of the forum is to present the conclusion of the MDEQ's site investigation, and its recommendations for the most cost-effective remedies to the contamination of the ground water.